Improvement/modernization

A huge reason why Peter the Great has become such a powerful historical figure is due to his westernization of Russia. While much of this westernization was social, such as making the nobility cut off their traditionally long beards,  a huge component of this westernization was also in Peter's expansion of the military and technological capacity of Russia. As cited in this website, Peter extensively studied the Western methods of ship-building and navigation in order to establish a Russian navy and expand Russian influence beyond the Russian borders. Thus, Peter the Great adopted western techniques in order to one-up the Western European countries--he studied their techniques in order to allow Russia to infiltrate the Western world. Consequently, Peter's infatuation with Western traditions and techniques was not out of flattery but was instead a strategy to show Western Europe the Russian potential. Peter established a port on the Baltic Sea in St. Petersburg where the vessels built were constructed based upon the designs of Western fleets. Consequently, without the advancements of Western Europe, Peter the Great would not have been able to expand Russia to be as powerful as he made it.